Chapter Eighteen: NootauDinner Special​​

Bad. Extremely, utterly bad. The afternoon would end in tears and a river of blood—most likely Nootau’s. When Aegeus and Edwige left with Mal and his small funny-smelling Kaden, the reaction Nootau had may have been a little extreme. Most people would probably label it as a panic attack.Like an "I combusted into flames" kind of panic attack.

Nootau burned bright and high for long enough that the bedding in his nest blackened. Apparently that was of interest because a bunch of people showed up after the person watching over him ran away. There was a lot of muttering from humans and Beings in long coats, and even more people started to show up when his flames went white.

Totally didn't help matters.

The men from intake showed up, avidly talking to the men in coats. The squat man eventually broke off and got closer to the nest. He leaned in, whistling.

"What did you do to piss her off?" He asked.The man who had run away edged closer. "I don't know. She erupted a few minutes after her handler left with the Ranger. I mean, Nidhogg had hissed at her, but he went to his own nest afterward."

"Anything happen before the two interacted that could set Nora here off?"

"Well, uh, some of our Divers may have... "

The squat man turned his attention on the coward. "May have what?"

"Attacked her, Rudolph."

"What?"

The coward gulped. "They spit flames at her. Hissed. Stuff like that. The Ranger, Mal, got her calmed down and into her nest."

Rudolph sniffed. "Hmm. Nora's own rider didn't calm her?"

"The Divers went after them first."

"I see." Rudolph stepped closer to the cage. "Aegeus said Nora wasn't fond of hangars at the landing terminal. Even asked if they could house somewhere private. Our fledging here is probably still temperamental when threatened. Or if her Rider is. Hmm. She'd been so well behaved at intake too."

The coward nodded before backing into the crowd. Rudolph turned to the swarm of humans, his hands clasped behind his back. He lowered his voice and joined in the conversation.

Nootau pressed back against the wall of the nest. He wanted everyone to stay away. And he definitely didn't want any of the other dragons getting any closer. Why did Aegeus and Edwige agree to leave with that stupid man?

How could they leave him alone? With all the other dragons? Nootau hissed loudly, the flames bursting higher around him.

That had people scurrying about while others started yelling. How incredibly irritating.

Nootau spit—a fireball erupting from his jaws. That is a new trick. People yelled in alarm. The solid wall he pressed against shuddered. Noisy clanks and clangs mirrored the wall tremors. Roars and blaring shrieks hurt his eardrums. Nootau reared up, bellowing smoke and flame. He pressed against the cool metal, pounding and pressing.

Too much was happening inside his nest. Nootau needed out. Away from the heat and noise.

The metal wall behind Nootau trembled once before sliding against his hide. He moved back, turned and hissed at it before a gust of wind caught his attention. It came from down below. He dropped his snout, sniffing, his tongue slithering out for a taste. Cool, dry air met his face. Nothing had ever felt so good. And the hole grew larger.

Nootau banged against the wall in excitement. Focused on getting out of the confines of his cage. Why would anyone ever want to be caged? Outside was so much better.

Slipping his head under the the moving metal made Nootau feel lighter, less afraid now that the wind washed over him.

Afraid of what?

Nootau managed to get his shoulders under the wall, clawing and scraping along the ground. Chunks of the earth flew in different directions as he tried to maneuver into the open. The hole hadn't gotten big enough for him to squeeze all the way through yet. Instead he was stuck, wriggling on the ground. He wanted up and out.

A roar let loose from Nootau. Golden and angry flames billowed from his snout and jaws. Above him a dark shadow loomed. Nootau pulled with his foreclaws and pushed with his hindlimbs, desperate to escape.

Danger.

Just as he thought he'd be stuck, vulnerable, the metal gave and Nootau broke forward. He reared up, his flames erupting higher than before. He roared, the sound heavy in his chest. Another roar answered his.

The shadow from before.

Nootau looked up, tracking the movements above him.

There was more than one shadow. Dragons.

Two flapped overhead. Humans on their backs. The dragons harnessed. How human.

Nootau belched a fireball toward them in warning before galloping away. Confrontation with the others was not something he wanted. Something about that would be bad. He couldn't remember what, but he knew they shouldn’t get close.

When he got to a small grove in the back of the cage Nootau slowed down, ducking under the canopy for cover. He stomped through the trees, others brushed hard against his hide, and still more fell when he hit them. Fire danced among the branches, leaping and dancing all around him. Nootau dove deeper into the safety of the woods. He didn't stop until he reached a barrier. Metal jutted out from it, criss-crossing like a spider's web until it met the sky.

No, he couldn't leave, but Nootau could build a nest to defend himself in.

The flames around him died. Instead of a hot hum thrumming through his chest, the fire around him warmed him. Water fell from the sky, smoldering the flames.

Branches fell easily under Nootau's claws. He toppled tree after tree, then dragged them back to the barrier. A smoke filled the grove, but its smell calmed Nootau. It wasn't until the nest met his chest did he stop.

Nootau lifted his snout and sniffed, tasting the air with his tongue. Some flames still burned but most had died out because of the water.

Another smell besides charred wood was in the grove. Nootau circled in his nest. Something wasn't right.

"There she is."

The voice had Nootau up and perched over his nest. It was the squat human. Nootau's chest rumbled. The human had a name—like he did. Rudolph. Next to him stood several more humans.

They were on the other side of the barrier.

He laughed. "She's nesting. Maybe we should get one of the drakes inside with her."

"I thought she was still a fledgling," A woman said. Nootau immediately didn't like her. Something about the way she spoke."She might just be on the small side," Rudolph replied. "Aren't you sweetheart?"

Nootau let out another rumble. The way the man looked at him made his hide itch.

"Did Erik make it out all right?" The woman asked. Nootau didn't think she cared if this "Erik" hadn't.

"Through the back exit."

Another man leaned in and squinted. "She's technically not ours. Are you even sure she's ready for a mate?"

Rudolph chuckled. "I have been here a long time, my friend. Intake means knowing all about animal welfare and their conditions. This behavior—the protectiveness over her riders, the agitation of being stuck in the nest, her need to nest here where she can defend herself? All of it says she needs a male."

"Aegeus was interested. Asked for information about the program." Rudolph dropped down. The way his mouth changed—Nootau snorted. Something about the conversation made him uneasy. The squat man nodded. "We could ask for forgiveness rather than permission?"​The woman sighed. "Maybe."

The man next to her nodded along with Rudolph. "Forgiveness is done more easily. Look at her. How calmly she's watching us."

Nootau snorted again. The noises the humans made didn't make complete sense, but he understood well enough they wanted a male for him. But Nootau had Aegeus. He didn't need another male.

"Think about it, Julia. Domesticating firedrakes could start with her," Rudolph said. "When are we going to get a chance like this?"

"True."

Domesticating. Stupid humans. Nootau would never just serve them. Let them keep him in a cage.

Aegeus and Edwige wouldn't let Rudolph keep him.

No, the human made little sense.Nootau had more important things to take care of. They needed to leave him alone. Just let him be until Aegeus and Edwige came for him. Too show them, Nootau reared up, taking enjoyment in how the humans scrambled back.

"Careful!" Rudolph said, putting his arms out to move the others away. "Let's leave her. Get someone to lure Nidhogg out so we can send our drake in—before her Rider comes back."

"How long has he been gone?" The man asked.

"A few hours," Rudolph replied. "Should be a couple more."

"You think?"

"I heard him talking with the Ranger. They mentioned lunch and supplies."

The woman laughed. "Tourists."

They walked away chattering. Nootau snorted and settled back in his nest. He wished for Aegeus and Edwige. The sooner they got back, the sooner... The sooner... Nootau wasn't sure exactly what, but he knew he needed them.

​Voices woke Nootau. Two people bickered back and forth. He rose, stretched, and lifted his snout, tasting the air with his tongue. They weren't his. Nootau snorted and laid his head back down.

"I thought we were getting the Diver and going."

"Shhh." The other voice sounded upset. "I just want to see her. Rudolph won't shut up about this jenny."

"I don't think disturbing her is—"

"Just shhhh."

"The Diver isn't happy, Erik." The man started yelling all sorts of things. Nootau wanted them to leave. If they continued to make a fuss, he would find a way to get rid of them.

"Shhhh."

"Erik!"

A rattling had Nootau up and turning in his nest. Above him were two humans on a blue dragon crawling along the metal webbing. The dragon stopped when their eyes locked. He hissed. Nootau rumbled out a warning.

The men threw themselves off Nidhogg, hurling against the webbing. They bounced but managed to hang on, both of them shouting more. The blue dragon increased its descent, hissing and spitting toward Nootau.

No way could he take the dragon head-on with how it moved.

Nootau climbed out of his nest and took cover under the smoking canopy.

A thunderous roar shook Nootau along with the trees. He weaved around the burnt trunks toward the open ground. A thump, thump, thumping was not far behind Nootau, keeping him surging forward. He may have an equal chance if he got to the field. Maybe. At least he wouldn't be at the mercy of Nidhogg aerobatic skills.

Just as Nootau broke from the tree line a roar shook him. Heat licked his tail.

Nootau skidded, rounding on the grove. The blue dragon burst out of the trees. Burning trunks exploded toward him. Splinters and flames rained down. Nootau belched a fireball. Nidhogg ducked but continued his pursuit, crashing forward.

Flames danced over Nootau.But they weren't the deterrent he hoped they would be.

Chapter Eighteen: AsheIn a Dark Room with Boxing Gloves​

Ashe decided to take a back seat for the moment and let Rolly run things. The man was calm and level headed. Hell, Ashe had blown his top at least twice since this whole shit show had started. He’d had good reason both times, but still, it concerned him that he was more like Tibo than he liked to admit.​Gorgons made him nervous. Not that she wasn’t a perfectly decent person. Probably. But it was like staring down the barrel of a permanently loaded gun.

“Sit. Tell me what is so urgent that jou resort to such strange tactics.” Dr. Zoss stared up at them expectantly.

Rolly and Tibo took the two available chairs. The goblin was being uncharacteristically quiet, from what little Ashe knew about him. Despite his better instincts, he was slowly growing to not hate Tibo. Not that he’d ever admit it out loud.

“I’m sorry, but I fail to see what that has to do with myself, or the institute.” Her hands were shaking. What would make a gorgon nervous?

“Shandi, the little goblin girl who was run over in New York just over a week ago--she was working on something…strange. Something we thought you might be able to tell us about.”

Dr. Zoss’s left eye twitched. She was definitely worried. “What sort of thing?”

Rolly looked at Tibo.

“Holes?” he said.

“I’m going to need more.”

“Something about using dark energy to move things through holes in reality from one place to another. She was working on these equations. They said...they said it was advanced magical theory she shouldn’t have known.”That sounded crazy, even to Ashe.

“Can I see them? These equations?”

Tibo looked uncomfortable. “They were on her laptop. I don’t actually have them with me.”

Now the gorgon’s brows drew down over her tinted glasses in annoyance. “I can’t help you, if you don’t have anything to show me.”

“I have something,” Ashe said. He pulled the flash drive out of his pocket and held it out to her.

“What is this?” She had the same look on her face that she might have worn if she had just been handed a dead cockroach.

“It’s a flash drive.” Ashe felt stupid for stating the obvious. Oh well… wouldn’t be the last time today. Or even probably during this conversation. He plowed ahead. “It has the details of some program, called D-v2.”

She dropped the drive on her desk. “I’m not putting that in my computer.”

“What?”

“It… it might have a wirus.”

“I’ve already tried it. It seemed clean to me. Besides, it was from my mother.”

Dr. Zoss looked up at him, searching his face. “I don’t see how that’s relewant. Was she a computer scientist?”

“She dabbled in it. But no, she worked for US intelligence. Her name was Nancy Heyoka.”

The look of surprise on her face was well worth taking the chance of dropping his mother’s name. “I haven’t heard that name in jears,” she said, her face turning even whiter than before.

“She passed away about ten years ago. You knew her?”

She nodded. “Not well, jou understand. We attended many of the same conferences. Jou… Jou’re Ashe Heyoka. She spoke of jou often.”

“Yes,” he said, gratified she’d remembered his name.

She picked up the flash drive again, turning it over and over in her hand.

Tibo was staring up at Ashe, as if re-evaluating him.

“All right. I’ll take a look. For jour mother’s sake.” She popped the flash drive into her computer’s USB port. “It needs a user and password,” she observed, squinting at the screen.

Ashe wondered if she ever wanted to turn it to stone. He certainly would have. He hated computers. “It’s “mita” and “dandelion”.”

She typed them in and looked at the results. “Jou’re right. It looks like a project file of some type. Let me look at some of these files.”

Tibo gave him the thumbs up.

“The protocol they used looks a little dated…”

“The files are probably at least a decade old.”

“Look here.” She turned the screen to face the four of them. “See this document code at the bottom?”

Ashe nodded.

“That indicates this file was created here, at the university. This seems to be some kind of adwanced breeding project...”

“We thought it had something to do with dragons,” Jaxx said from behind Ashe.

“It looks like it. But…” she frowned. “I’m not aware of any adwanced genetic work being done on the species here at that time. Maybe a black box program. Hmmmm.”

“Could it have been something Dr. Bach was working on?” Rolly asked.​Dr. Zoss’s hand froze on the keyboard. “Why would jou think that?” Her voice had turned to ice.“A friend sent us. To talk to him,” Tibo said. “When we heard he was dead--"

“You need to leave my office. Now.” She pulled the flash drive out of her computer without ejecting it, handed it over to Ashe, and pointed to the door. She scribbled something on a small piece of paper, as if she had already dismissed their presence.

“But… surely you can tell us something?”

“I am sorry for jour loss, Ashe. But I can’t help jou any more.” She got up and ushered them all out of the door. As she pushed him out, she slipped something into his hand, whispering in his ear “It’s too dangerous.” Then she shut the door firmly behind them.

“Well, that happened,” Tibo said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ashe stared at the closed door. At every turn, there was another mystery. Sometimes he felt like he was blindfolded in a dark room with boxing gloves on. “She freaked out when you mentioned Professor Bach.”

Rolly nodded. “Too bad we can’t speak to Dr. Bach himself.”

Ashe opened the paper and read its contents. He frowned.

“What is that?” Tibo asked.

Ashe handed it over. “It looks like Professor Bach’s home address.”

Tibo’s grin was just shy of evil. Ashe knew Tibo well enough already to be sure that was a bad sign. “We can’t talk to the poor old dude himself. What if we could do the next best thing?”

Chapter Eighteen: MalMaking Friends​

Mal crooned softly to the little Firedrake as he manoeuvred her into the nest. He rubbed up and down against her neck, trying to calm her down.

​"It's okay Nora, those mean Divers can't get you in here, you're safe, you're riders are safe." Mal continued to croon, he could see the tension slowly bleed out of the dragon.

Fury roiled inside him at the complete and utter incompetence of the staff here. Mal would be having some serious words with the Hangar’s management over this. Nothing like this would have happened back in Melbourne. The staff there knew what the fuck they were doing; that was for damn sure.

"Thank you for your help with her," Aegeus said, as he walked up beside Mal and placed his hand on Nora's side.

Mal thought he heard the man humming softly, he shrugged, whatever worked to soothe dragons was fine by him.

"You're welcome. Always happy to help out a fellow rider." The stiffening of Aegeus’s shoulders was only slight, and Mal wasn't sure he'd actually seen it. He glanced over at the pretty girl, Edwige, who was on the other side of Nora, talking softly to her. She was only a small thing."Let me help you get Nora here unbuckled. These things weigh a god damn tonne."

"Thank you, that would be much appreciated." Mal and Aegeus set to work unbuckling all the straps and holsters. Aegeus helped him lift the large saddle from Nora's back, and they placed it down on the shelves provided, along with all the tack.

Nora shuddered when she'd been lifted off her burden and settled down in her nest.

"So, where you guys from? The accent is American, am I right?" his smiled at the pair of them. They seemed to care a great deal about Nora, which Mal liked. He could always tell when there was no connection between a Dragon and their rider. Those partnerships rarely lasted long, and usually ended in injury.

Edwige glanced at him. "You're right, Chicago to be exact."

"Cool, I've always wanted to go to the States. This is my first time overseas."

"Ours too," Edwige agreed, making her way around Nora, her hand slipping into Aegeus's.

"You an Aussie?" Aegeus asked him.

Mal chuckled. "How'd you guess?" he waggled his brows at the pair.Aegeus laughed like Mal had intended, and Edwige smiled at him.

"So, seeing as how this is both our first time's here, how about we grab our gear and search out our accommodations. They should be in the same block I'd assume as we're visitors to this Hangar, at least that's the way it works back home." Mal's stomach chose that moment to grumble loudly. "What do you say? You up for grabbing some lunch with my…" Mal paused not quite sure what to call Kaden before he finally settled on a word, "Partner and I. It'd be nice to get to you know you both a little better, at least then we'll know someone in this strange city."

Nora huffed behind them, letting out a small puff of smoke. Edwige turned and spoke softly to her again; Aegeus started humming; soon the dragon settled back down again. The pair glanced at one another, speaking quietly.Aegeus turned back to Mal when they'd made a decision. "That sounds great."

"Wonderful. I'll just head next door and grab Kaden and our things, and we can head off."

Mal turned and left, making sure to close the door securely behind him. He made his way back to Nidhogg's nest and slipped inside. Kaden stood there, a worried expression on his face.

"You're okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine, not a scratch on me." Mal put his arms out and turned around so Kaden could see.

"What happened?" Kaden asked. "What took so long?"

Mal walked into the nest further and over to Nidhogg who was lying contentedly on his bed; his head tucked between his leg and his eyes closed. Mal scratched the top of Nidhogg's head, just where he liked it for a moment before standing and turning back to Kaden.

“A few of the house Divers took exception to a small Firedrake and her riders as they were coming in. The staff here seem to be bloody incompetent when it comes to handling the dragons. It's not leaving me with a lot of confidence in leaving Nidhogg here by himself."

"He'll be fine, Nidhogg's a big boy," Kaden reassured him.

"You're probably right."

"Plus, he looks tired, he'll probably just sleep the whole time we're gone; he's had a big journey."

"Yeah, okay." Mal grabbed one of their bags, and Kaden picked up the other. "Come on; there're a couple of people I'd like you to meet."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, the riders of the Firedrake." We're going to find our rooms and dump our stuff then head out for lunch. I hope that's okay." Mal asked as he held the gate open for Kaden to walk out of the nest.

"Sounds great, I'm starving." Kaden's stomach let out a loud growl.

Mal Laughed. "Great minds."

Aegeus and Edwige were waiting for them in the wide passage outside the nests. Both of them with small bags in their hands.Mal made the introductions and watched as Kaden shook their hands and smiled at them both."It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too." Edwige smiled at Kaden, Aegeus at her side, their hands firmly clasped together.

"Now, anyone know where the hell we're going?" Mal asked as he looked around for a sign to point them in the right direction."

"I think I remember a sign pointing to the dormitories back that way," Aegeus said as he pointed back in the direction they had come from earlier.

"Wonderful. Let's go and see what we can find. We can always stop someone and ask if we get lost," Mal said.

"Or," Kaden spoke up as he pulled a piece of paper out. "We could use the map handed to us with the intake paperwork, which has the visitor accommodations clearly marked on it."

Mal laughed and shook his head. "Lead the way then Kaden."

They all followed Kaden as they made their way through the corridors of the massive hangar, Mal had to bite his tongue several times when he saw things he wasn't happy with. They weren't here for him to give the staff a lesson on proper care and treatment of dragons. He had people to track down and bring to justice.

They crossed several quads before they finally came to a massive building which Kaden announced was the visitor accommodations. They entered through the double glass doors and stood in line at the reception desk, waiting to be called.

"Meet back down here in ten minutes?" Mal asked after they'd all been assigned room and they were on their way to the lift.

"Sounds good," Aegeus agreed.

Aegeus and Edwige got off on the third floor, while Kaden and Mal's room was on the fourth.

The room was simple, a small bathroom located off the entrance, a queen-sized bed sat in the centre of the room, a small round table with two chairs in the corner. There was a floor to ceiling cupboard for their clothes and a television mounted on the wall opposite the bed.

Kaden dumped the bag he was carrying on the small table. "You don't mind if I use the bathroom first do you?" he asked.

"Nope, go right ahead. I can wait."

Kaden smiled and walked passed Mal at a fast clip.

Ten minutes later, feeling a little refreshed but no less hungry the four of them met up downstairs in the reception area.

"Where do you want to go?"

"We have some supplies to pick up after lunch, so into the city should be best," Aegeus said.

That worked really well as Mal and Kaden could follow up on a couple of the leads Hale had reluctantly given him.

They asked the receptionist, a lovely green-skinned dryad about the best way to make it into the city and she called them a taxi.The drive took twenty minutes. They'd asked the taxi driver about a nice café for lunch, and he dropped them outside his favourite eating place. The little restaurant didn't look like much on the outside; the two-story building sat on the corner next to two very busy roads. Large windows covered the ground floor on the right. Three steps led up to the door.

Mal looked at his companions. "Shall we?"

"Might as well." Kaden placed his hand in Mal's and gave it a gentle squeeze. As they walked inside the aromas, hit Mal. God, it smelled amazing in here. People were crowded around tables covered in red and white checkered tablecloths; lines four deep were waiting to place their orders at the counter. Waiters moved around with massive trays piled with plates of food, some heading up the stairs, where Mal assumed was more seating. People ate, drank and chatted. The place had a really wonderful feel to it.

They all stood in line and glanced up at the wall above the counter, pictures depicting all the different foods on offer and their prices, the names of the meals were written in a language Mal couldn't understand. He did see one thing that he thought he knew what it was. Bratwurst he understood.Mal's mind was made up when he saw a waiter with a tray come out of the kitchen, four plates of Bratwurst mit rosti sat on top. His mouth watered with how good it looked.

Kaden turned to him "I'll take one of those." He pointed to the waiter Mal had been staring at as well.Mal laughed. "You and me both. Looks pretty amazing."

Kaden nodded.

Once all four of them had placed their orders they glanced around for a table. There wasn't any free space down on this floor so they all headed upstairs. Mal did notice that Edwige stayed rather close to Aegeus the entire time. They found a small round table off to the side and quickly claimed it before someone else could.

They sat down and glanced at one another as they waited for their food and drinks to arrive.

"So," Mal said, to break the silence that had fallen over them. "What brings you two to Zurich?"

Chapter Eighteen: TiboA Proper Appointment​

Tibo told the story, his resentment keeping the tears at bay. It shouldn’t have hit him so hard still, but he was tired and aggravated, especially at Rolly for making snap decisions about these people they knew fuck all about.He left out specifics, of course, no mention of Meerah or Pearl and he was vague about what was in Shandi’s computer, but he didn’t lie about a single flipping thing. “So, it’s that simple. Shandi died. The authorities didn’t care. I do.”

The satyr was nodding, but the phoenix was staring at him like he had two heads. Tibo barely stifled the urge to flip him off. “What?”

The phoenix’s face went blank, void of expression. Probably came with being a phoenix, that need to clamp down on anything like strong emotion. “Were you two related? You and Shandi?”

“No.” Tibo spat out. He flung himself out of his chair to pace. “No, I never knew anything about her before that night. Never. And fuck you. Like someone needs to be attached to me before I’d care.”

“Hey, sorry.” Ashe held his hands up in the air. “I just meant… it was really hard for me when my father died.”

“Yeah...yeah. I get that.” Tibo blew out a breath and scraped both hands back through his hair. “I lost my folks a...while ago. Guess there’s no way it’s ever easy.”

Something in Ashe’s expression had softened. “When did it happen?”

Don’t you dare pity me, Tibo’s frustration howled inside him. But it was just a question and not a state secret or even asked in a condescending way like the reporters so often did. “I was young. Nine, I think. Stuff from back then’s kinda blurry. Apartment fire.”

“I’m sorry.”

And damn it, he was pretty sure the phoenix meant it.

Rolly gave him a kiss on the top of his head as he went by, phone in hand, and his voice soon came from the next room, obviously on a call. “Yes, I was a student of Dr. Lemnos some years back. I’m hoping I could make an appointment with Dr. Zoss? Yes, McFarland. Rolly. Yes, ma’am. I’ll wait.”

After a long pause during which Tibo resumed his seat and his beer drinking, Rolly finally said, “Thank you, yes. That would be perfect. Good day.”

He strolled back to them with a grin and flopped into the chair beside Tibo’s with a shit-eating grin. “I have dropped names and been excruciatingly charming and got us an appointment for tomorrow morning.”

“For all of us?” Jaxx asked.

“I was a mite vague on how many of us there would be, but yes.”

Tibo nudged Rolly’s boot with his foot. “Don’t look so damn smug.”

“What meager talents I have are at your disposal, oh god of goblin rock.”

“Oh, fuck you, McFarland,” Tibo said with a helpless laugh.

If they’d been alone, he would’ve pounced on Rolly and there would’ve been a short but heartfelt scuffle, most likely with Tibo ending up on his back. Which he wouldn’t have minded at all right then. But, yeah, guests.

“So, um, you’re welcome to stay,” Tibo said, waving his bottle at the house. “I mean, it’s not my house and shit, but we’ve got plenty of room.”

Ashe frowned, maybe he thought it was too much like charity, maybe he liked his privacy, but Jaxx, who wasn’t as closed up and awkward, answered for them. “That would be great. Safety in numbers, right Ashe?”

Rolly’s eyebrows had crept up in surprise, though he didn’t contradict the offer. “Something like. Yes, stay. We’ll get takeaway, play some cards, and you’ll be here in the morning rather than us trying to meet up somewhere.”

While Ashe still looked like he was trying to protest, his satyr friend’s fingers were digging into his knee hard, the signal painfully obvious.

When it was all said and done, it wasn’t a bad evening, really. They weren’t people Tibo would usually choose to hang out with. Jaxx’s taste in music wasn’t terrible, but Ashe’s was stuck in some decade none of them were old enough to remember. Probably. Tibo had never been good at guessing phoenix ages. Or really most Beings ages. They seemed like good people, though. Regular, non-clandestine, normal people who’d probably grown up in nice little houses somewhere outside the big cities.

Not shockingly, when it came to bedtime, they picked the smallest bedroom at the other end of the hall. Still a nice one with its own bathroom, so ha! There was no way they were getting out of having a nice, luxurious night whether they wanted it or not.There wasn’t much in the house in the way of perishables, so Rolly made waffles the next morning which he served with coffee and cherry preserves. Heaven for Tibo. I could eat Rolly’s waffles every morning. Gods, that sounds dirty.

The three big guys threw on coats and shoes and were ready, waiting for him while he wrapped his scarf around him, pulled a sweater over his head and then his coat, stomped into his boots and finally pulled his gloves on.

“Ti, we’re not hiking through the tundra,” Rolly said in his driest tone.

Not that it was a long walk back to the dome of the ETVH, but the pointed tips of his exposed ears still stung by the time they reached the entrance hall. Should’ve worn a hat. This time they went to a departmental reception desk and were ushered to Dr. Zoss’s office by the assistant.

“Dr. Zoss? Your nine o’clock.”

The assistant retreated and Dr. Zoss stared at them while Tibo all but hid behind Rolly just in case she remembered him and was still pissed off about it.

“Jou again.”

“Yes, Frau Professor Doktor,” Rolly said with a little boy smile that managed both charming and abashed somehow. “We’re terribly sorry about yesterday, but we hope that you might be able to help.”

“So. It was a lie about Dr. Lemnos?”

“Oh, no, Frau Professor Doktor. I was his student in college. Wonderful course on magical theory.”​“Hmm.” She frowned, but her snakes remained quiescent. “Sit. Tell me what is so urgent that jou resort to such strange tactics.”

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About Marionettes in the Mist

This is a weekly Urban Fantasy serial written by participating MCB authors: Angel Martinez, Toni Griffin, J. Scott Coatsworth, and Freddy MacKay. It posts every Monday and Thursday. A total of thirty-six chapters will be written for the blog. Marionettes in the Mist will be released in three volumes that will include illustrations, story expansions, and of course, edits later on in the year.

BlurbA fugitive skinwalker, a down-on-his-luck phoenix, a goblin rock star, and a wild dragon ranger have nothing in common except the sudden violence that tears their separate worlds apart. With wildly different motivations, each sets off on his own journey to try to solve the puzzles left in the wake of murder and mayhem.

When these four meet, the hints and clues begin to point them to something bigger, and toward answers that might make them wish they'd all stayed home.